


A Sesame Street Nutcracker

by Arytra



Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Fluffy, I know that the source material is Nutcracker, Most of the muppets are cameos, Multi, but still is super fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 14:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17143211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: Pretty much exactly what it says.  It's a nutcracker fusion of Sesame Street and the Nutcracker.  You're welcome!





	A Sesame Street Nutcracker

Our story begins late upon one Christmas Eve at the start of a holiday party put in place for all of the family and friends of the household. Bob was already looking out into the main room to see the incoming guests while his sister Maria was finishing getting ready for the event. The tree was already decorated with many different ornaments and decorations that the two siblings had assisted in picking out while over the fireplace sat a menorah in representation for Mr. Hooper, their godfather, as well as all other Jewish guests that were arriving. Both Uncle Wally and Mr. Hooper would be arriving together as usual and Bob was looking forward to seeing what creations the two had put together. Uncle Wally especially enjoyed taking the various knowledge of doll making and seeing what he could do while Mr. Hooper did the practical parts. Ever since Bob and his siblings were children, the two older men had created remarkable toys based on what each child liked. Their elder brother, Rupert, enjoyed no-nonsense figurines that his wife had used to decorate their house. Minneapolis, their younger brother, had enjoyed the fantastical and wordly dolls that had been found around the world. Bob enjoyed the more simpler dolls that weren't as ordinary as Rupert's nor as wild as Minneapolis but still had a magical charm of their own. Maria loved the wind-up dolls which both men had gently taught her to fix and work on since she was very young. Minneapolis and Rupert had both been snowed in to their respective houses, or rather hotel for Minneapolis, this holiday and had regrettably let the family know that they would not be able to attend. Bob was just glad that he still would have Maria there though he would miss both of his brothers and Rupert's wife. Maria finally had come out of her room and joined her brother in looking into the foyer. 

"Happy Christmas Eve," she told him cheerily, looking out. "Are Uncle Wally and Mr. Hooper here yet?"

"Not yet, but they're coming together," Bob said and grinned at her. "And we'll know when Uncle Wally gets here."

She laughed in response and the two joined the party. It wasn't long before the clock struck eight and the door burst open. Both siblings shared an amused look with each other as they knew that their Uncle Wally loved to make an entrance. Sure enough, he walked in with a grin and already joking with everyone. In addition, Mr. Hooper, their beloved godfather, followed in after with a much more serious expression and a twinkle in his eye that undercut it. Both of them began to hand out presents, setting three under the tree to be sent to Minneapolis and Rupert later. Bob and Maria would also get theirs later in order to make sure that there was little jealousy. The party continued as it did without the interruption as Bob and Maria greeted both older men warmly.

"You two can have your presents later," Mr. Hooper said firmly.

"Can we have a hint?" Bob asked. Uncle Wally opened his mouth to agree but Mr. Hooper quickly cut him off.

"No," he answered. Maria tried not to laugh, failing. Bob shot his younger sister a quick look. "And don't go looking either."

"How long are you staying?" Maria asked.

"Probably not long," Mr. Hooper answered. "But long enough to see you both open your gifts and to catch up."

"Long enough then," Bob said warmly.

The night carried on and the guests slowly began to trickle out. Bob made his way into the kitchen where Uncle Wally was gathering a few cookies. Mr. Hooper was in the other room talking with Maria. Bob was about to try to convince Uncle Wally to give him some sort of clue when something caught his attention. He reached over near his uncle and pulled out a very interesting looking Nutcracker. He looked it over, examining it. It really was well made. Uncle Wally seemed to finally notice he was there. Bob grinned at him.

"I've never seen a nutcracker like this before!" Bob asked. Uncle Wally grinned back.

"It's one of a kind," he agreed.

"Can I have it?" Bob asked.

"Sure!" Wally said. "It'll probably be fine. Just don't let your godfather know yet."

Bob shrugged. "Okay!" He agreed, guessing that it was probably supposed to be a surprise.

"Good," Uncle Wally said. "I'm going to go give a couple of army dolls to your sister."

"Why army dolls?" Bob asked.

"Because she deserves extra presents too," he said. Bob nodded. That made sense. He followed Uncle Wally, grinning at how happy Maria seemed to be with her share of the extra presents. Mr. Hooper had left the room before they got there. Uncle Wally left them alone for the moment as the two began to look over their gifts.

"Can I see?" Maria asked, reaching over. Bob gently handed the nutcracker over while taking her two soldiers to look over. "This is really made well. Uncle Wally and Mr. Hooper did a good job."

"They did on yours too," Bob agreed. The army man and woman seem almost human in in their look. "Uncle Wally mentioned that they were extra presents for us."

"I don't need any other presents," she said. He agreed with her. He looked at them and got that look in his eye that warned his sister that he was about to be ridiculous. She recognized it by how often she saw it. 

"It's a shame your dolls aren't people. They would definitely be attractive," he teased. Her eyes lit up at that.

"Are you flirting with my dolls?" She asked.

"It's not my fault they look so good," he answered with a grin. She just laughed. Before the two could continue, they heard an argument from the kitchen and decided to investigate. Uncle Wally was leaning against the counter as Mr. Hooper paced back and forth.

"We talked about this on the way over," he said. "What was the first thing I said to you?"

"Don't give the nutcracker to Bob nor Maria," Uncle Wally answered calmly.

"And did you give him the nutcracker?" Mr. Hooper asked, knowing full well what the answer was or he wouldn't have bothered with the question to begin with.

"He wanted it," Uncle Wally said. At Mr. Hooper's look, he went a step further. "He really wanted it."

"If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times! We don't give magical artifacts to the children!" Mr. Hooper said. Uncle Wally leaned back.

"That's just it though. They aren't children anymore," he said. "And I gave Maria the army dolls so as long as they share, it should be fine, Harold."

"Wally! That's it! We're spending the night! Go let someone know we'll need the spare room!" Mr. Hooper said.

"We already heard," Maria said. Mr. Hooper looked at the ceiling and sighed while Uncle Wally just looked sheepish. Bob looked at the nutcracker and then at the older men.

"Do you need it back?" He asked, not wanting to part with it, but willing to if it was the right thing to do. Mr. Hooper shook his head.

"No," he reassured him. "I do think we need to talk about it though. I'll make some hot chocolate for all of us."

Soon after, they were all curled up in the foyer, drinking their hot chocolate and waiting for their uncle and their godfather to begin. Wally was first. "You know how I'll travel around to get ideas while your godfather tends to stay home and tend to the doll shop? Well, Mr. Hooper decided that he should come with me this time. We weren't anywhere important, but it's like there was a swirling vortex of ice and snow and out of it came this woman in a very purple dress and wings, holding the nutcracker. She politely asked if we could watch it for her and that it was key to getting back to her world. Without it, only she could cross between worlds."

"Uncle Wally," Maria said in the tone that said she was pretty sure her uncle was exaggerating again. Mr. Hooper reached over and squeezed her hand, looking her in the eye.

"It's true," he said. She sat back in surprise as Bob just blinked. Uncle Wally continued.

"She was worried about whatever it was getting to it so she asked us to keep an eye on it. Further, she gave us the two army dolls in case we ran into trouble. She was worried that maybe other things followed her out," he said.

"Dangerous things?" Bob asked. Mr. Hooper shrugged.

"We don't know," he answered. "Not too dangerous, I'm sure, but we gave the army dolls to Maria for a reason. We want you both protected and we were planning on giving them to you anyway. Wally and I can handle ourselves, but it isn't a secret that the four of you mean the world to us."

"What if Rupert and Minneapolis would have been here?" Maria asked "There's only two dolls."

"We had planned to talk it over with all four of you and see what could be done. Rupert has a harder time believing in things he cannot see and Minneapolis constantly goes looking for adventure. It may have been that neither would have accepted the situation. If they had, we likely would have left one of the dolls with Minneapolis and asked you both to stay with Rupert for some time until we could find the faerie again. We weren't supposed to give you the nutcracker."

"Then why did you?" Bob asked.

"You wanted it," Uncle Wally answered. "And it's been some time, nothing else has happened, and we gave Maria the dolls. The faerie was probably wrong about there being trouble."

"Or it's biding its time," Mr. Hooper scolded. "Regardless, we're staying for now. Just to make sure."  
"But you don't have to keep it or be involved," Uncle Wally said. "We're still spending the night, but you can give it back if you want."

"No!" Bob said a bit too forcefully. "I mean, I want to keep it if I'm still allowed to."

Maria shrugged. "We have the army dolls right? How do they work?"

"They just do," Mr. Hooper said in the tone that he didn't want to be questioned.

"Magic," Uncle Wally answered in a tone that said he absolutely didn't mind be questioned.

"Okay," both of the younger adults stated, not about to get in the middle of that fight. Uncle Wally wrapped around both his niece and nephew's shoulders, having to reach up for the latter.

"We wouldn't have left you undefended," he told them. "We just weren't sure how much to tell you."

"In any case," Mr. Hooper said, glancing at the close. "It's late. We should all go to sleep."

He gave each of his godchildren a stern look that they decided to obey even if they weren't require to. Bob looked at Maria instead. "I'm sleeping by the tree!"

"Hey! Great idea! I'll get us some more blankets and pillows," Maria said. He grinned at her and went to get them more cocoa, knowing full well that they would stay up talking. Uncle Wally hugged both of them.

"See you tomorrow," he said. "Maybe then we'll remember to open the gifts we brought you."

"Get to sleep at a decent time," Mr. Hooper continued sternly, hugging both of them though he was smiling at them both over his glasses. They all headed to bed and while Maria and Bob did stay up chatting a while longer, they too fell sleep next to the still lit tree and with their three dolls next to them. It was when the clock struck midnight that was when things started to shift. As is often with magic, there was an almost disorienting feeling as if things weren't quite right and it woke them both up. At first, there was silence but after a moment, a crash came from the kitchen startling them.

"COOKIES!" A voice rang out. Both Bob and Maria leapt to their feet. They looked at one another and rushed into the kitchen rather than the opposite direction of the trouble. To their surprise, a blue monster was eating all of their holiday cookies... and the plate with it. He looked up at them. "Me want more cookies."

"That's all of them that there are! We were going to eat some for Christmas!" Bob said. Maria put her hands on her hips.

"That was not a good job of sharing," she added, unintentionally matching the look their godfather often gave them.

"Oh. Me sorry. Me share better next time," the monster said. "Say, you seen nutcracker? Me need nutcracker."

"Uh, no?" Bob said in the most ineffectual lying tone of all creation.

"You have nutcracker?" The monster asked him, somehow not believing Bob's horrible lie. "Give me nutcracker!"

"No!" Bob said, heading back into the room and picking it up to keep it above the monsters head. The monster tried to jump up to get it and Bob fell back, fortunately landing in one of the chairs. Maria was making her way over, but to their surprise, her dolls made it there first. The woman soldier got right in front of the monster and held her sword to it. The man soldier backed her up, staring the monster down.

"Leave them alone," the man soldier said firmly.

"But... me need nutcracker!" He said. The woman soldier glanced at her partner who kept his sword up as she put hers away for the moment.

_"You can't just hurt innocent people."_ the woman soldier signed and the man soldier translated just to be on the safe side.

"Oh. Me didn't mean to," the monster offered. "Me wanted nutcracker. Me not want to hurt anybody."

"How about we ask why he decided to do it in the first place?" All of them turned to see the nutcracker talking. He looked at Maria. "You might want to wake your uncle and godfather up."

"She doesn't need to," Mr. Hooper said. "We're already up."

"Huh. The nutcracker can come alive too. The soldiers I wondered about, but I didn't see that coming," Uncle Wally added.

The nutcracker just nodded to both of them and turned back to the monster. "So, what were you wanting me for?"

"Me wanted to go to land of candy and COOKIES!" He answered. Bob was surprised that their parents weren't awake yet with how loud the monster was. Then again, maybe they couldn't hear any of this due to magic. "Two men said if me get nutcracker, then me could have cookies and candy! Me am Cookie Monster so me need cookies!"

"Well," a new voice said gently. "Why didn't you just ask?"

At this point, Bob knew that this had to be the sugar plum fairie though she had shrunk herself down to the size of the nutcracker. She wrapped her arms around the nutcracker lovingly and gave Bob a similar look for protecting him. Cookie Monster looked confused. "Ask?"

"Yes. Ask," Mr. Hooper said. "Like polite people do."

His arms were folded as he glared over his glasses. Wally had gently put a hand on his shoulder but wasn't trying to stop him. After all, Bob nearly had been hurt even if most of it was due to his own clumsiness. Cookie Monster mulled this over. "If me ask now, can me go to place with COOKIES?"

"I don't see why not," the Sugar Plum Fairy said. "But you have to promise not to hurt anyone."

"Me not want to hurt people! Me am nice monster!" He said, looking between them. The nutcracker nodded.

"Well, that works for me," he said. He gently broke away from the faerie who followed him over anyway. "I want to thank you, Bob, for trying to protect me."

"It looks like I needed the help," he said, motioning to the two soldiers.

"But you did try!" The faerie said.

"And you did a great job. Thank you," he said. Bob nodded.

"Can I pick you up for a hug?" He asked politely. The nutcracker moved his arms the best he could to let him. Bob picked the toy up and held it to him, but something began to happen. He set the nutcracker down, careful not to drop him, and watched as the nutcracker grew and grew into a human sized version. Bob blinked in disbelief, glancing over at his sister. To his surprise, the two soldiers had grown in size as well. All of them were blinking and stretching. The Sugar Plum Faerie didn't miss a beat as she shifted into a human form as well. That wasn't the only surprise, however, as he grew into his human-sized form, the nutcracker appearance melted away to reveal a human king.

"Okay, you're not allowed near any of my things anymore. I don't need my hairbrush or something becoming human," Maria teased. Mr. Hooper looked far more pensive over the situation.

"It looks like your love made him human," Mr. Hooper said. Uncle Wally beamed.

"Good job, Bob!" He said. The nutcracker ignored all of them.

"Thank you, Bob," he said. "I needed someone to care about me enough to both protect and show some sort of affection before I could be human again."

"You were under a curse?" He asked. He looked at the Sugar Plum Faerie. "Why couldn't you fix it?"

"It's a long story," she answered. She kissed his cheek. "Thank you for rescuing him."

He blushed a bit. "You're welcome."

"So," Maria asked, looking at her dolls. "You two were cursed too?"

"Less cursed..." The man soldier said. "Well, less cursed for ourselves. More like we agreed to it to protect our king."

"You're a king?" He asked, looking at the former nutcracker. The latter glared at the soldier and the soldier's woman companion shook her head at him.

_"Good job keeping that a secret."_ She signed. The nutcracker looked uncomfortable about it.

"Can we just pretend like you didn't hear that?" He asked. "I don't need anyone treating me that way."

"I think that the real point," the Sugar Plum Faerie said. "Is that we need to figure out where to go from here. Obviously, Cookie Monster isn't behind all of it. So, I need to take these three back to the Kingdom and Candy and the Land of Dolls and find out what's going on."

"We'll come with you!" Bob said, volunteering both himself and Maria. His sister didn't look displeased by this idea at all.

"We can help!" She agreed. Mr. Hooper groaned.

"The last thing you two need to do is go traipsing into a world you don't know," he said. "Do you two remember three summers ago when you fell in the lake?"

"Or last year when Bob fell into that gutter?" Uncle Wally added.

"Or when the two of you tried to have that picnic and you both ended up tripping..." Mr. Hooper continued.

"Bob tripped! I tried to slow his fall!" Maria explained. Mr. Hooper gave her a look that informed her that he didn't care how she wanted to put it. Bob just looked sheepish. "And we're going. They need our help!"

"Yeah!" Bob agreed. Uncle Wally shrugged.

"Well, we tried," he said without any sense of remorse. Mr. Hooper glared at him.

"You just want to see the magic land," he accused him.

"I do," Uncle Wally agreed before lowering his voice. "Besides, look at Bob and Maria. I recognize that look."

Mr. Hooper looked over and sighed. He too had seen that look before on Rupert's face when he met his wife and on their parents' faces many, many years before. "Do you think they know?"

"Have you met our nephew and niece?" Uncle Wally asked. "They won't know until it's spelled out for them. So... I think that the king and faerie and soldiers are going to have to spell it out for them."

"Good point," Mr. Hooper sighed before turning back to the former nutcracker. "Look, your majesty..."

"Gordon. Just Gordon. No king. No majesty..." he said. Mr. Hooper shrugged.

"Gordon then. We'll be needing to come with you for everyone's piece of mind," he said firmly. Gordon nodded.

"I'm fine with that," he said. "And so is Susan."

He motioned to the faerie who nodded. Both of the soldiers equally looked pleased. Maria beamed at both of them. Uncle Wally shrugged. "Maybe some fresh eyes might help you figure out your problem."

Mr. Hooper nodded, still not pleased. "We should leave a note."

"Oh, they'll just assume that we took the kids out for a bit. Everyone is an adult," Uncle Wally said cheerily.

"This is why I always get the 'Harold, please make certain that Wally doesn't do anything too crazy while he has our kids' speech every year," he grumbled. Wally just laughed. Bob and Maria blinked. "And I'll make sure that you two don't fall into an ice cream lake or anything else that you'd manage to do."

"We're not that bad, Mr. Hooper," Maria said gently. He snorted.

"You're worse," he said. Before they could protest, he nodded to Susan who simply opened the portal and let all of them through. The world shifted and although Mr. Hooper still didn't look happy, he did look amazed. Bob and Maria, on the other hand, were beyond amazed by all of it and wanted to see where this could take them. The trees were very tall and while there was snow covering everything, it seemed to sparkle and almost glow. It was picturesque as if it shouldn't be possible that it existed this perfectly. Before they could take too much more in, the clouds darkened and snow fell from the ground rapidly, making it hard to see. The majority of the group looked surprised. Susan, however, looked displeased.

"It looks like the Snow Kings and Queen have been busy," she said.

"Were they supposed to have gone this far?" Gordon asked, looking through the blizzard.

"No," she said. "But 'I need to protect Gordon' apparently meant 'Go as overboard as possible to protect Gordon, Susan. and the soldiers especially considering that one of them is my grandson'."

"Well, you should have been more specific," he teased. David whistled.

"Grandma really doesn't pull her punches," he said. Linda just grinned as they were signing as they spoke.

_"Your grandma always did know how to make an obstacle."_ She said before glancing at Gordon. _"Maybe you should call them and see if they can fix this?"_

Gordon nodded. "Harriet! Mr. Macintosh! Willy!"

The snow parted a bit and the group took some steps back. Mr. Hooper grumpily looked at the group and then back into the snow while Wally was just grinning, obviously amused by the entire situation. Maria and Bob were both practically bouncing in delight. The snow began to swirl around in three separate circles. Two men and a woman appeared within the swirls of snow. The first had a long beard and was looking toward the center circle in bemusement. The second had far shorter hair and a mustache, looking completely amused by the situation. In the center, the third was a lovely older woman who faced them down, ready to start it back up again. She beamed when she saw who was there however.

"David! Gordon! Linda! Susan!" She said with delight. Her gaze turned to Cookie Monster and her eyes narrowed slightly. "You."

"Hello, Snow Queen Harriet," Cookie Monster said. "Me know me in trouble. King Gordon said me can come."

"Well, if Gordon says its fine," she said. She looked to the other four in curiosity but Susan quickly reacted before she could say anything.

"These four are the people who helped save us," she said. "And broke Gordon's curse."

"Oh they did," Harriet said in completely amusement.

"Well, Bob did," she said, motioning to the young man beside her. Harriet's eyes twinkled at that and she looked between all of them. She noticed that Linda and David had also moved in close to both of the siblings and beamed, realizing the beginning stages of love even before they did. She then turned her attention to Uncle Wally and Mr. Hooper. Uncle Wally got there first.

"I'm Wally," he said. "Their uncle. And this fine man is their Godfather, Harold Hooper."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Wally. And you, Mr. Hooper," Harriet said politely. He looked back at her.

"And you, Snow Queen Harriet," he said just as politely. Neither of them left the other's gaze. Uncle Wally looked at Mac and Willy who looked equally surprised and amused. "And feel free to call me Harold."

"Then you must call me Harriet," she answered. The two reached over to shake hands and the effect was enchanting. Rather than just being a small bit of a handshake, it made the snowflakes swirl around them both, some of which were forming small heart shapes. She blushed a bit. "Sorry. Sometimes, they get out of control."

"I understand," he assured her. "So do the dolls we make at times."

"You make dolls?" Harriet asked, looking delighted. He nodded. "You must show me sometime."

"I'd love to," he answered. Uncle Wally looked at Mac and Willy.

"And here I thought he was as aromantic as I am," he said to them both. Mac and Willy both looked amused.

"She hasn't been that happy since David was born," Mac said cheerfully. "It's nice."

The three men just watched as the interactions between all of them continued. Gordon and Susan had moved over to talk to Bob while Maria was talking with Linda and David. Uncle Wally was pleased that the kids had picked up the sign language he had decided to teach them when they were younger after an adventure where he'd needed to know it. It seemed to be helping them out with Linda now.

"So, you're a king?" Bob asked Gordon who just sighed.

"Yes, I'm a king. Susan pretty much runs the land of candy though," he said. She glared at him. Bob looked at her.

"So you're kind of a queen?" He asked. Susan folded her arms.

"More like an agreed upon leader," she answered. "We had a vote. Or rather, they had a vote and didn't tell me."

"She came back and was queen," Gordon said in amusement. Susan looked displeased. Bob reached over and paused.

"Is it okay to hug you?" He asked. She looked surprised but nodded. He pulled her into the hug. "I think you're probably a great queen."

"Thank you," she said. "Gordon encouraged them to do it while I was gone."

"If I have to be a king, I'm taking my girlfriend down with me," he teased. She glared at him for it and Bob found her leaning into him naturally. She looked back at him.

"Be careful or you'll end up the ruler of something too," she teased back. Bob blushes a little bit.

"But I'm not from there," he reminded her. Or with either of you, he silently added.

"That won't stop him," Susan continued to tease. Gordon made his way over, gently leaning into her and looking back at Bob.

"I do have a habit of doing that with people I'm attracted to," Gordon said. "So, Susan is probably right that you should watch out."

"It might be worth it," Bob answered, flirting right back. Gordon beamed at him. Susan rolled her eyes slightly, but Bob did notice that she seemed extremely happy where she was at. She did give a sigh.

"You two are going to be trouble," she told them. Gordon grinned at her.

"If you fell for two people who are trouble," he said, kissing her temple. "What does that say about you?"

"I need a better taste in men?" She teased back. She looked questioningly at Bob as he nodded and the two of them very gently kissed. When they pulled away, Gordon looked at him with an almost nervous look. Bob smiled.

"Want a kiss too?" He asked. Gordon relaxed and the two fell into a kiss of their own. The ground may have been covered in snow, but Bob had never felt so comfortably warm.

Maria, on the other hand, was very happily discussing things with the two soldiers. David was explaining to Maria what had happened. "We found out that Gordon had been turned into a nutcracker. We didn't know what had happened beyond that, but we did know that we needed to help him! So, when Susan went to find somewhere for him to hide, we went with and promised to help him if something started to happen. We were with your uncle and godfather for a while."

_"We got protective about them too. And they were always talking about the four of you. They weren't worried about Rupert, but they did talk about how happy he seems with his wife. They met up with Minneapolis once and we got to hear about him. And then they talked about you and Bob and it wasn't hard to see that you're the two that they spent the most time with. So we got to hear a lot about the two of you and what you've been up to and whether or not the trouble you got in was enough to make need to go help you."_ Linda continued. Maria looked a little embarrassed at that last one, but both of them look more amused than anything.

"So, we've been waiting to meet you," David agreed. "I don't think it was the same for Gordon because of the curse, but close enough."

_"I think Susan and he are getting to know Bob better."_ Linda said in amusement. David snapped his fingers.

"Well, there goes our hope for both siblings," he said. Linda rolled her eyes.

_"You're acting like they're bad at sharing."_ She scolded. _"We'll all just talk it over."_

David looked sheepish, but he did nod. He glanced at Maria. "If you're going to be okay with that and okay with being with us?"

"I don't mind at all and I think I'd like that," she answered. Linda signed for permission and once Maria gave it, the two gently kissed. She felt David's hands on her shoulder, looked at him questioningly and after he nodded, she kissed him as well. Maria was completely amused by how the two soldiers were trying to figure things out. And when it came to her brother, well, she could share these wonderful people as long as they all worked it out verbally first. David paused.

"There are two others..." he said. Maria just smiled.

"We'll figure that out when we meet them," she promised and David relaxed even more.

It wasn't long before Uncle Wally interjected. "Perhaps we can continue these conversations while we're moving?"

Mac and Willy quieted the snow a bit to create a path. Harriet looked sheepish, but covered it rather well. "I don't want to speak for my fellow rulers, but I'd like to come with."

Mac and Willy both shrugged and answered together. "It might be a good idea."

With that, they headed off out of the Snow Rulers' area and toward a beautiful world of candy. With a quick warning to not eat anyone's housing or anything else that was important or belong to someone, Cookie Monster was gone to go eat to his heart's content. The others were left staring at the glory that was the Kingdom of Candy. It was a beautiful kingdom of candy and flowers interspersed with each other throughout. The people there were dressed in the various candy and used their magic to make more of it. One tiny child dress as a bon bon squealed in delight, rushing back to inform someone. The others paused at the bon bon's gasp and their daily chatter quickly became sounds of joy and laughter. "Our king has returned!"

"Well," Susan whispered to Gordon. "If David hadn't have outed you, I think this may have."

"Can't you stop them?" Gordon pleaded. Susan rolled her eyes.

"They're happy to see you. Deal with it," she said sternly, giving him a peck on the lips. Bob was trying not to laugh as Gordon half-glared at him.

"Can't you tell them that you saved me so that they'll leave me alone?" He asked. Susan gave him a stern look.

"You are not about to shove Bob out there as a distraction!" She scolded. "You're just going to have to do this with all of the grace and dignity that you supposedly have."

"But we'll be right here," Bob offered. Gordon sighed and smiled at that.

"That will be different then," he answered, gently kissed Bob while pulling Susan to him. The Sugar Plum Faerie didn't protest at all. He turned toward his people. "I have returned!"

"Good time for it," one of the women said, covered completely in various forms of mint. "We're having trouble."

Gordon immediately focused his attention. "What happened, Olivia?"

"Someone took over Doll Land!" She exclaimed. "They even threw out Big Bird!"

"They what?" Harriet, Mac, and Willy all said as one. Bob felt that it was probably a good thing that they'd left their snow behind.

"They did," a man agreed, coming up next to her. He was covered in various forms of flowers. "And worse, they blocked the way so we can't get in!"

Gordon nodded. "Where's Big Bird now?"

"He's over with Gina. She's been trying to calm him down and reassure him it isn't his fault," Olivia answered. She looked past him to see the small procession. "Uh... Gordon?"

Gordon looked at her in confusion before seeing that he had an arm around both Susan and Bob without even thinking about it. "Oh right."

The flower man looked completely amused. "Being in the other world agreed with you."

"Luis," Gordon grumbled. Olivia didn't look any more sympathetic toward Gordon.

"How is it you were a nutcracker and you still managed to finally get together with Susan and find a third..." She started. Gordon cut her off.

"Olivia!" He said, starting to blush at the woman he had claimed as a sister when they were young. The land had asked Gordon to choose a successor if something happened to him and Gordon had interpreted that as 'this is my best friend Olivia and she's my sister now'. "Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper, Uncle Wally, meet Olivia, the Mistress of Mint and my sort of sister and Luis, Florista of Flowers. Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper, and Uncle Wally helped to rescue me in the other world and wanted to come and help."

"It's nice to meet you," Luis said. "Welcome to the Candy Kingdom."

Luis still looked amused by the entire thing and wasn't bothering to really hide it. Still, they did have a job to do which meant that flirting , and teasing their king for flirting, was going to have to wait for the moment. That didn't stop David and Luis from lightly touching hands or Linda happily signing to Olivia who glanced at Maria. Nor did it stop Luis from glancing at Bob as well as Maria. Considering that Mac and Willy seemed concerned about calming down a large yellow bird whom Uncle Wally was guessing was Big Bird, Uncle Wally was the only one who seemed to notice all of the affection floating around and the beginning of relationships.

They made their way over to where Big Bird was being consoled. The large bird wasn't decorated as much as the others were other than a vest that read 'Special helper to the leaders of the Kingdom of Candy and the Land of Snow.' He looked up at them. "I tried really hard."

"I know you did, Big Bird," Gordon said, trying to soothe him. He reached over and gently squeezed Gina's hand. "Thank you, Gina."

"It's good to see you," she said before sighing. "Zoe! Do not try to climb the gingerbread tree! Sorry, Gordon."

"They're kids," he answered, gently grabbing a different little monster. "Easy there, Elmo. You'll slip."

"Elmo will be careful, King Gordon!" He promised before racing off to catch up with Zoe. Gordon looked at Gina.

"You're doing great," he assured her. Susan leaned over to Bob and Maria.

"Gina is new at her job of Nanny Ginger," Susan said softly. "She is the best we've had at the job, but we still like to reassure her."

Both of the siblings nodded. Gordon shifted his attention from Gina to Big Bird. "What happened?"

"I was watching over doll land and these two guys showed up and they said that they were supposed to be in charge now and they told me to leave but I told them that King Gordon put me in charge and then they said you were gone!" Big Bird said. Gordon smiled at him.

"I was only gone for a little bit and you did a very good job," he assured him. The bird perked up at that and pointed.

"Now it's blocked off, Gordon!" He said. "I tried really hard, but they took it over!"

"I know," Gordon said. "I'll go talk to whoever is blocking it off. Why don't you go play?"

"Okay!" Big Bird answered and raced off. Gordon met the other's eyes. Each of them nodded back in agreement and they went to find out exactly at had happened.

The doorway between Candyland and Doll Land was extravagant, but wasn't that large. Mr. Hooper leaned over to Gordon. "Who is in charge of Doll Land?"

"No one really," he answered. "Other than me, I suppose."

"That's why Big Bird was there. He let us know if the Snuffleplushies or the People of Felt started to cause too much mischief. The army dolls tried to help, but when Gordon was turned into the Nutcracker, they had to go with him. And the Marionettes and the Turn-Key dolls tend to just try to continue on with their lives like nothing is happening," Susan explained. They made their way to the door to see a green fellow sitting in front it.

"What do you want? Scram!" He exclaimed. Gordon folded his arms.

"I'm King Gordon," he answered. "And I'd like in to the rest of my kingdom."

"Yeah, well, I'd enjoy everyone being less happy so I guess we're both out of luck," he grumbled. Gordon pushed forward.

"And what is your name?" He asked.

"Oscar. Oscar the Grouch," he answered. Gordon nodded.

"Alright, Oscar," he said. "I'm not about to make everyone in my kingdom stop being happy, but maybe we can compromise."

"Compromise!" Oscar exclaimed. "Grouches hate compromising! Yuck!"

"Well, aren't you compromising with those guys?" Gordon asked, motioning to the door. Oscar thought about it for a minute and scowled.

"They tricked me!" He exclaimed. "But if I don't compromise with them, then I'll be compromising with you."

"What have you gotten out of compromising with them?" Gordon asked. "People bothering you? Having to deal with them being happy? What if I offered you your own little area where you could be left alone but still see what was going on?"

He looked thoughtful at this. He obviously wasn't getting what he wanted so this did seem to be the best possible option for him. Besides, with this many people there had to be a lot of trash. He grumbled, but nodded. "Okay."

They moved his trashcan where he was staying to a different area. Maria and Bob helped him make a "Get Lost" sign while Gina explained to her bon bons what the sign meant.

Once that was accomplished, they moved toward the door deciding that it was important to handle the situation now rather than waiting to see what happened. Big Bird was told to stay with Gina, whom no one else wanted to come with either. She did put her hand on Gordon’s arm. “Savion is in there.”

“I'll make sure he’s okay,” Gordon promised her. They entered. It was a little dark, though nothing was out of the ordinary.

“I’m telling you, Sid,” they heard a voice proclaim. “We’ll be rich. Rich! As soon as we get our hands back on the nutcracker king and those soldiers, there won’t be anyone to stop us.”

“What about the faerie?” Another voice asked.

“She’s a faerie. What’s she going to do? Throw pixie dust at us? Besides, she is far more focused on her nutcracker to focus on us. We have it handled!” He scoffed.

“Except for the part where the nutcracker breaks your curse, comes back with the soldiers, and is very unhappy,” Gordon informed them. 

"Well, sure. Except for that part..." the man said before looking over. "Uh oh."

"Sam! Sam! It's the King!" Fred said.

"I know it's the king!" He hissed. "Just follow my lead."

Gordon waited patiently for them to have their conversation. Mr. Hooper was already rolling his eyes at him while Susan glared daggers. The others had various looks of annoyance. It would have gone a lot better for them if they would have left Big Bird out of it. Since they didn’t, the group was quite upset.

“Hi. King Gordon, right? How’s it going?” Sam asked.

“Well, I got turned into a nutcracker and sent to a different world. And my surrogate son got kicked out of here and was crying,” he said calmly. “So, I’m going to go with ‘Not well’.”

_"How dare you throw out, Big Bird!_ " Linda added, readying herself for a fight. The two men took a step back, but the dolls behind them glared. The lead of the two men looked ready to try to smooth things over, but the other brother interjected first.

"We're sorry! You're right! We did! We were going to sell all of the dolls! We tricked the monster and the grouch! We threw out the bird! We're so guilty!" He said, breaking down sobbing. The other brother just covered his face in one hand. They were promptly arrested by Linda and David as the kingdom cheered. Several of the dolls made it back out to the rest of the Kingdom of Candy to see friends including one doll that Bob and Maria was certain was Savion making his way to Gina. 

Gordon turned to their guests.

"There's still time before Christmas," he said. "Please join us for a celebration?"

Bob look at Maria who was just as eager as him. They were about to agree when they realized they weren't the only two there. Mr. Hooper was looking at Queen Harriet before seeing his godchildren looking at him. "I know that Bob, Maria, and I would like to."

Uncle Wally just grinned, looking at Big Bird. "I've never been to a candy celebration before. Why don't you tell me all about it?"

Just like that, it was agreed that they would stay for a time. Bob alternated between getting to know Susan and Gordon as well as getting to know Linda, David, Luis, and Olivia. He had, of course, fallen for all of them and the look on Maria's face told him that she had fallen for Linda, David, Luis, and Olivia as well. He looked at his sister when the others were distracted for a moment. Maria sighed. "I don't want to go home."

"Me neither," he whispered back. As she looked even more upset with the idea, he did gently nudge her. "I guess Rupert was right about us having the same taste in people."

"You noticed too?" She asked. She sighed. "Even if we did stay, how would we work that out?"

Bob looked thoughtful. "We could figure it out. We could take turns or something. We've always been good at sharing."

"You taking my things is not sharing!" She protested. He kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sharing now," he said. He gave her a quick hug. "So what do we do now?"

"Why don't you ask to stay?" Gina asked, coming up behind them. Both of them started to protest, but Gina wasn't the nanny of the bon bons for nothing. She moved her ridiculously large dress to make sure she could lean over without toppling it. "Listen, you two like them. They like you. If you're happier in the other world, fine. But if you're not, then we'd be happy to have our friends happy. That goes for your uncles too."

"While I can't speak for Harold," Uncle Wally told her. "I would love to continue to visit, but I couldn't be stuck in one place forever."

"I don't see why that would be a problem," Susan assured him, making her way over. "We can create a key for you."

Bob looked at Maria. "I want to stay."

"I do too," she said. Mr. Hooper looked at them both over his glasses.

"After Christmas," he warned. "We don't need your parents wondering where all of us are."

"All of us?" Harriet asked teasingly. He looked a little embarrassed.

"Unless you don't want me to stay," he said.

"Of course I do," she assured him. She motioned out to the dolls that they had rescued. "Part of you has been here the entire time."

All four of them looked out at the Land of the Dolls with a surprised look on their faces, but they did recognize what he was talking about. Several were dolls that Mr. Hooper and Uncle Wally had created over the years. Maria and Bob noticed a few that they'd given away to children as they had grown older. It wasn't nearly all of the dolls, of course, but there was a good number of them. Mr. Hooper and Uncle Wally looked at Gordon quizzically.

"When a doll has reached a certain point," he said. "If they were made with and loved by people, then they retire here. Big Bird keeps an eye on things if for no other reason than he can play with Mr. Snuffleplushie, but he's still very young. It would be better if they were watched after by someone who could care for them."

"You aren't subtle," Mr. Hooper scolded, but he didn't say no either. Instead, he gave it a few seconds of serious thought and then nodded. "You've got a deal."

Gordon turned to dolls. "I give to you the new Duke of the Land of Dolls!"

"Duke?" One of the littlest toys asked. Gordon nodded.

"That's a type of leader, Alice," he explained.

"Duke!" She repeated happily. The other dolls looked equally pleased. Mr. Hooper glanced at Gordon.

"You really should stop deciding to make people rulers all the time," he scolded.

"I'll keep that in mind," Gordon answered, in a tone that assured him he was going to continue to do it. Susan looked at the four of them.

"If you will be coming back," she said. "We'll take you home and come back to get you the day after Christmas. With a key for your Uncle Wally."

There was a nod and some quick good-byes as the four reentered the normal world. It wasn't too long after they had left. Mr. Hooper looked at the other three. "Get some sleep. We'll have to be up soon."

With that, he followed his own advice. The other three smiled at each other, but did the same. Christmas did come early and was very lovely. The tree was beautiful as normal and they all enjoyed the gift giving. As it ended, Uncle Wally quietly assured them that he would handle their affairs in terms of apartments and other mundane things. They all very quickly agreed to it. After all, it would be hard to explain to others who hadn't been through it.

So, they stood ready and used the key that they had been given, opening the world that they wanted to return to. And they entered.

Harriet was the first to see them and she beamed. “Welcome home.”

The others turned toward them and engulfed them into various hugs. And over the next few weeks, Mr. Hooper could be heard praising or scolding Big Bird when necessary while Harriet just tried not to laugh. Maria was found in either the Land of the Dolls or in the Valley of Candy with her many lovers. Bob alternated between them and spending time with King Gordon and Susan. He loved all of them dearly so it was just a matter of figuring out how to react with each of them. This was a far easier task than he would have considered to begin with and one of that he enjoyed. The others worked equally hard to help him make it work. None of this was a huge problem, however because they all loved each other. Susan and Gordon doted on Maria as they did the others. Mr. Hooper joined Harriet as acting as a surrogate parent for each of them. And while that concludes our story, it does not finish the story as they lived happily for a very long time after.


End file.
